Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Impact 25 legacy programme.

Since July 2024 the Government has invested £6.7m into the £14.5m Impact 25 programme which is pivotal in cementing rugby as a game for all. The programme has reached 850 clubs as more female-friendly facilities have been built all over the country encouraging female participation in rugby.

The programme has trained 3,385 new female coaches and match officials, making coaching sessions and matches more accessible. Impact 25 has contributed to a 35% increase in female age grade registrations in England rising from 17,700 places in 2022 to 23,900 in 2025. To assess progress against Impact 25’s outcomes the RFU uses a range of data sources which are reported on as part of the programme. We will work with the RFU, Sport England and UK Sport to monitor progress against these outcomes and the RFU’s long term goal of having 100,000 female players in England.

The programme has provided over £5,000 of investment to Dartfordians RFC and Sidcup RFC in Old Bexley and Sidcup. Both clubs have received sanitary product packages which are made freely available in club restrooms as well as kits for their u12s team and access to coaching and match official courses for their members.